Undercover Prince
by Pyromaniac1102
Summary: Two fates tied together: a sneaky thief's and a rebellious prince's. When the two meet, ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE. Especially when the thief kidnaps the prince- by accident of course! ...Mostly.
1. Beginning of Time

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.**

**Prologue**

_Normal POV – Unknown Location_

A hooded figure runs through the dark woods. A light drizzle of rain falls overhead, making her dark cloak and ivory skin glisten in the moonlight. Bright lights and loud music are ahead of her as she burst through the last of the trees in the forest and into a festival.

Men, women, and children of all ages dance around celebrating. The hooded woman weaves through the crowd, her arms wrapped protectively around a small bundle of wool. She slips unseen into a dark alleyway.

"Yuka? Is that you?" a voice echoed behind her. She spins around to see a blond man at the entrance of the street. He had mesmerizing violet eyes that were currently wide with shock.

"Narumi, just in time," Yuka said.

"Yuka… it _is_you! Why are you here? What is that in your arms?"

"Narumi, my friend," Yuka said hesitantly, "This is my daughter. My spies have reported that the Anti-Alice is planning to attack the Kingdom, but they do not know of my daughter. They plan to conquer all the Yukihira Kingdom Narumi," Yuka said sadly.

"And so you brought her here in attempt to protect her."

"Indeed. Thus, Narumi, I ask you to please take care my daughter. And if you say no, I'll give her to Jinno," Yuka threatened.

"JINNO?! NO! DON'T DO THAT! HE'LL CORRUPT HER!" Narumi yelled. He imagined his kind friend Yuka's innocent daughter raised by his STRICT AND TERRIFYING somewhat-friend Jinno. He shuddered; one Jinno is enough. He didn't need a _Jinno Jr._ – _AT ALL_. "ALL RIGHT! I'll do it!"

"Oh, THANK YOU THANK YOU TTHHAANNKK YYYOOU!" Yuka cried happily. She looked down at her daughter, who was sleeping peacefully and oblivious. Gently kissing her forehead, she handed her only daughter to Narumi.

"What is her name?" Narumi asked.

"Mikan," Yuka said. Narumi snickered.

"You always did like tangerines. I'm truthfully not that surprised you named your only daughter after your favorite fruit," Narumi joked. Rolling her eyes, Yuka slapped Narumi playfully on the back.

"Oh shut it Blondie!" she said, "Izumi named her!"

"After you, no doubt," Narumi taunted. It was obvious that he enjoyed infuriating his friend.

"NARUMI!"

"Okay, Okay! I'm sorry!" Narumi surrendered, "By the way, does she have an Alice or a gift?"

"She has both. An Alice, and the Mark of Fate," she replied, and lifted Mikan's arm to show a tattoo of a gold dragon circling a flaming yin and yang symbol. "But don't tell her that she has and Alice Narumi. Let her find out on her own."

"Sure. Hey, what are you going to do now?"

"Go back to the Kingdom of course."

_Normal POV- Hyuuga Castle_

Not far, a king and queen stood in their room, looking out the window at the vast crowd the arms gathered outside the castle celebrating the news of their king and queen's crimson-eyed heir. In arms of the queen was the aforementioned prince. A look of contentment and pride was plastered on his parents' faces.

"Such a lucky one," said the king, "The fire Alice, and the Mark of Fate. That tattoo… such a mysterious thing. How can a single birthmark predict whom one's fate is tied with?"

"It _is_magical after all. If one could summon fire from their hands, why can't a tattoo tie the fates of two together?" the queen reasoned.

"Good point," the king said, "I wonder who the lucky girl is… Oh well, only time will tell. For now we celebrate the beginning of the new prince, Natsume Hyuuga! …Hey Kaoru, do you remember where I put the whiskey? I swear I was _just_ _holding it a minute ago_! Why does this always happen?"

"…"

**Chapter End**

**Mystery: Yay! I finished the chapter! Now I can go run around for no apparent reason!**

**Natsume: Idiot -.-**

**Mystery: Why you little! Fine then! I see how it is! T.T**

**Natsume: …**

**Mikan: Read and Review?**


	2. Beeline Out the Door

**Mystery: I'M BAAAACCCK! I'm SO sorry for such a late update! I had a TON of homework! And I have to bring my grades up! SO YEAH. IT HAS BEEN CHAOS! XD Now READ. . OH YEAH and I also changed the description of Mikan's tattoo!**

**I do not own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 2**

_Natsume's POV_

"Natsume!"

My eyes snap open, and I bolt straight up from my bed – nearly head-butting my dad's huge head that was hovering above mine. Of course, it wouldn't hurt to knock a few brain cells into my _utterly brainless_ father's head.

"What do _you_ want?" I growled. A normal person would've screamed in terror and run away by now. Evidently, my father _is not_ a normal person, as I already established. Instead of being terrorized, he was grinning from ear to ear like a crazy person. Part of me is wondering how he became king. The other part is slightly scared of _why_ he's grinning like an idiot.

"WHY, I just wanted to see my _LOVELY_ son in the morning!" he squealed, clearly emphasizing the 'Lovely'.

"Lovely, my BUTT!"

"Yes, your butt is quite lovely."

"…" _That idiot…_

"Why are you looking at me like that, Natsume? Have you finally realized how awesome your father is?"

"… Out. Of. Room," I hissed.

"Oh dear! Natsume is emitting a dangerous dark aura. Better go now! Tootles!" With that, he made a beeline out my room, and slammed the door.

I heaved a sigh and got off my bed, slowly making my way to the bathroom. I splashed water on my face to try to forget that irritating morning incident. My sleeve slid down, revealing a tattoo of a gold dragon circling a flaming yin and yang symbol(see new cover picture! 1/26/13 Rate the tattoo please).

That's right; I've got the Mark of Fate. The only people who know about it are my parents, my little sister, and my best friend. My fate is tied with some other girl (hopefully) on this planet (HOPEFULLY). The Mark of Fate is a tattoo _some people_ are born with. It's supposed to help you find your soul mate, the one other person in the world that has the same tattoo as you. No two pairs have the same tattoo. At least, that hasn't happened yet. But there is always a first for everything, right?

I quickly slip on a random outfit and put on a single black leather glove to cover my tattoo. Then, I proceeded to kick open the door, and jump off the railings, and land on my feet like a cat in front of the castle doors. Of course, I _also_ kicked open the _giant wooden door_ to get out of the suffocating castle where I was prince and heir, and headed towards the town.

It wasn't like I exactly hated the idea of being heir. I just didn't like having to sit through _hours and hours_ of boring meetings, sign papers that I don't even read, or go to pointless marriage meetings to meet Barbies – wait sorry, I meant _princesses_. I refused all the "princesses" at those meetings, because they weren't _her_; the mysterious girl I met ten years ago.

**_Flashback_**

_I walked through the snow covered forest that surrounded the castle walls. Being only five years old, I technically wasn't allowed to wander alone in the forest. But did I care? No… not really._

_I didn't know where I was going. I just wanted to escape the castle. And so, I just walked aimlessly. Suddenly, I heard the rustling of leaves behind me, and I quickly whirled around, summoning a ball of fire in my hand. Silently, I snuck over to the bush, and lit a branch on fire. The fire burned through easily, slowly consuming the entire plant. Then, someone splashed freezing cold water on it, drenching_me _and the plant._

_I slowly turned around to see a little girl about my age. She had brunette hair tied up in to pigtails, and a scowl on her face. But that wasn't what caught my attention. No, it was her eyes. Those innocent hazel eyes that just about bore into my soul. They were beautiful; honey-brown with specks of dark green._

"_Are you trying to burn down the forest?" she asked._

"_Now why would I do that?" I had said._

"_Because you're an idiot?"_

"_At least I don't pour ice-cold water on strangers," I watched in amusement as her face got redder by the second until I swore I saw smoke coming out of her ears._

"_Hmph!" she said. She spun around swiftly. Of course, she was wearing a skirt, and OF COURSE, I got FULL VIEW – if you know what I mean._

"_Hey Polka-Dots, at least tell me your name."_

"'_Polka-Dots'? Isn't that my…" A look of realization and shock worked its way onto her face. "Why you little PERVERT!"_

"_It's not my fault. Who wears a skirt in the middle of winter, anyway?" I said. "Not to mention a really short skirt."_

"_I'm going to DUNK YOU IN THE RIVER!" she yelled. Suddenly, I heard footsteps._

"_I think I heard her! Over there!" someone yelled._

"_Uh-oh…" she muttered. She looked around at the snow covered trees. Seemingly satisfied, she grabbed my hand and ran towards a tall tree to our left._

"_What are you –"_

"_SHH! Do you want to be found?!" she hissed. She found a thick branch and began climbing. I followed suit, since I had no other choice._

"_Who are these people?" I whispered. They were now directly below us, but none of them looked up._

"_Bad people. Father calls them AAO."_

"_And what is THAT?"_

"_Anti-Alice Organization. They are against the rule of Alices, but they are Alices themselves. At least, most of them are."_

"_Why are they after_you_?"_

"_How should I know? Oh good, they're leaving. Well, I have to go now you pervert. I'll see you around," she said. She jumped gracefully off the branch and disappeared. And then she was gone._

**_Flashback End_**

And so here I am, reliving my memories of that hazel-eyed brunette. I hear the busy streets of the town ahead of me, so I know I'm close to Central Town. Central Town is the ultimate shopping center. The Hyuuga Kingdom is famous for it. All the things made there are made by Alices.

My sister loves it here, but being a princess, mom won't let her come as often. Aoi, my sister, is one of the only princesses in this world that I _don't_ hate. She doesn't dress up like a Barbie doll like the others. Instead, she jumps around like a hyperactive chipmunk. Well, if you think about it, it's actually better than being a dress up doll.

0-0-0-0-0-0

_Mikan's POV_

"You know, if you sleep with your face on the book, your face will eventually get stuck like that."

"Huh?" I said. I lifted my head slowly from my book that I was reading late last night. Turning my head a little with my stiff neck, I see my dad, Narumi, standing next to me in a pink frilly dress.

"DADDY!" I squealed, and jumped into his arms. Dad was almost never home. His job required him to work late. What does he do for a living? Why, he rules The Underworld of course.

The Underworld is an underground city directly below the Hyuuga, Yukihira, and some other minor kingdoms. It is a place free of war and bloodshed; like a safe haven for the thousands of people who live there. The catch? The only people who know about it are all assassins, mercenaries, thieves, gang members, or spies. But, the people there were mostly good. They didn't hurt the innocent, and only stole from the poor and killed the evil. Father is the king of the Underground. He may not seem like it with his feminine outfits and care-free attitude, but he is powerful and respected by everyone in the Underground.

And I, Mikan Sakura, is the leader of the most feared and respected Underground gang; The Sakura Petal. My gang is made up of the most elite thieves, assassins, spies, and other things that would get you arrested - if we were caught, which we never were. If we did, we would just wait for one of us to break us out of prison. There are only six of us in the gang. Despite what we do for a living, we are all good people and only steal from the rich. Kind of reminds me of this guy Hotaru told me about. Was his name Robertson? Robinson? Maybe it was Roberthood… No, that just sounds weird.

"Good morning Mikan-chan!" Narumi said. "I was just going to go to Central Town! Want to go with me?"

"Of course!" I shouted happily. I swung open my closet doors and grabbed a random outfit, then ran into my bathroom and quickly got ready. In the midst of straightening the long sleeve midnight blue shirt I put on, I stared at my tattoo. It was a imprint of a gold dragon circling a flaming yin and yang symbol.

It has been with me since as long as I could remember. Narumi told me long ago that this tattoo was the Mark of Fate. It meant that my fate has already been tied with some other person in this world.

I sometimes daydream about who the mysterious person with the same tattoo as mine is. I've always dreamed of him as princely. Someone who would buy me Howalons every day...

I sighed, and wrapped my hand in a white silk cloth to cover the tattoo. Well, to Central Town it is. Of course, my life isn't that simple, and the moment I opened my bathroom door, I heard a ear-piercing scream.

**Chapter End.**

**Mystery: Muahahahaha! Cliff Hanger! XD Can YOU predict what will happen? Perhaps something happened to Narumi? O.o YOU WILL NEVER KNOW! MUHAHAHAHA! Jk. Just wait for the next update. Which will be in… oh… ten, fifteen YEARS… JK.**

**Mikan: dot dot dot Read and Review?**

**Natsume: You're not supposed to actually say "dot dot dot" idiot.**

**Mikan: Pfft! I knew that!**

**Natsume: O.o**

**Mystery: *facepalms***


	3. Hearts Collide

**Mystery: Okay I'm back! So, I've decided to update at least once every weekend (probably on Saturday)! SO YEAH. *cheers* Yay. But sadly, Chapter 3 is STILL only introductions! Don't worry, there will be some juicy parts next chapter... hopefully. XD Now, READ**

**Chapter 3**

_Recap:_

_I sometimes daydream about who the mysterious person with the same tattoo as mine is. I've always dreamed of him as princely. Someone who would buy me Howalons every day..._

_I sighed, and wrapped my hand in a white silk cloth to cover the tattoo. Well, to Central Town it is. Of course, my life isn't that simple, and the moment I opened my bathroom door, I heard a ear-piercing scream._

_-O-O-O-O-O-_

_Mikan's POV_

On impulse, I grabbed the knife that was hidden inside my boots. Holding it sideways, I searched my room. _Empty._

I crouched and slowly inched towards the door. I kept the dagger close and ready as I reached out and turned the doorknob. The door slowly swung open, and I crept out. That was when I saw a metal food tray, broken dishes, a traumatized maid, and... a mischievous teenage boy with midnight blue hair partially covered by a black beanie, and a black star tattoo on his cheek.

"Tsubasa... really?" I sighed.

"Mikan-chan!" he yelled. He tackled me with a bear hug and ruffled my hair. This man is Tsubasa Andou. He's one of my best friends, and is like a brother to me since we were practically raised together. He is member of the Sakura Petal **(A.N: read previous chapter)**. He is an assassin like me, and uses his Shadow Manipulation Alice to help him with his job. Like me, he never kills innocents, and is highly respected in the Underworld **(see prev. chapter)**.

"What are you doing here anyway?" I ask.

"WELL. I _was_ going to send you a rude awakening, but I ended up scaring your maid, and you were already awake. So now I'm going to drag you with me to Central Town!" he said.

"I was going there anyway..."

"Damn. Why don't any of my plans ever work?"

"Maybe it's because you're an _utter idiot_," a feminine voice suggested. We spun towards the direction of the voice to see a furious teenager with pink hair and eyes.

"M-Misaki-chan..." Tsubasa stuttered. Fear was evident on his face as he prepared himself for the wrath of his girlfriend.

"Misaki-chan!" I yelled and tackled her, saving my poor friend from his fate. Misaki is Tsubasa's girlfriend, although one would question whether or not this is really true. The two were always at each other's throats - or well, _actually_, it was more like _Misaki_ was always trying to kill _Tsubasa_ and _Tsubasa_ was epically failing to calm her down.

But if you knew them well, you could tell that fighting was one of their ways of showing their affections. After all, they_ did_ have the same Mark of Fate. The two were destined to be together.

Misaki had the Doppelganger Alice. Even though she was a mercenary, she was also part of the Sakura Petal because I trusted her enough. Misaki was not one to betray her friends, especially if it meant betraying Tsubasa as well.

_BAKA. BAKA. BAKA. _

"KYYAAA!"I cried. I rubbed my head trying to ease my headache. "What was _that_?!"

"Idiot. What do you _think_ it was?" someone said.

"HOTARU!" I shouted and attempted to hug her. Key word: ATTEMPTED. Before I even got within three feet of her, she pulled out her infamous Baka Gun again. I stopped before I made contact, a decision I believe saved my life. "Meanie."

"Ba-ka," Hotaru replied. Hotaru is my best friend. She has the Invention Alice and is the Beta (second-in-command) of the gang. Of course, she is also a spy and a blackmailer. Somehow, she knows almost everything about almost everyone. She has a hobby of taking pictures of people and selling the pictures for money (which she absolutely adores) or using it for blackmail.

"Yo-" someone started.

"-Mikan-" another continued.

"-Wazz up?" the first person finished. We all turned to look at the last two members of our gang.  
"Koko! Kitsu!" I greeted. I hugged them both, and looked around. "Geez, is everybody here?"

"Just about," Koko answered. Koko and Kitsuneme weren't twins, but they acted like it what with the finishing each other's sentences thing. The two of them are the jokers of the gang, always playing pranks on each other and on others. Sure, the pranks are hilarious, but only when the victim isn't you.

Koko had the Mind Reading Alice. His alice tells him all the secrets of anyone, as well as where they kept their wallet. Because of this, he became a thief and a spy. Strangely, his alice never works on me.

Kitsuneme, or Kitsu for short, has the Flying Alice. It is always funny when he suddenly starts floating whenever he's nervous. He uses his gift to float to the darkest corner of the ceiling and listen in to conversations, proving his alice useful on his missions as a spy.

"So, to Central Town then?" Tsubasa said.

"I have to tell Ojou-san!" I said.

"Already covered that," Hotaru said.

"Oh... okay then!"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_Natsume's POV_

The moment I stepped foot into the pub, Midnight Experiment, I sensed trouble. Technically, I wasn't supposed to drink, but they never check for my age anyway, so whatever. The ones that practically lived here were all present, no surprise, but there was an addition of two newcomers. One was a girl with bubble-gum pink hair. The other was a tall man with reddish-orange hair.

I sat down on a stool, but kept my eye on them. New comers usually meant trouble.

"The usual?" the bartender asked. I nodded in response. The two talked in hushed voices, a huge difference from the other drinkers. Curious, I tried to tune into their conversation to no avail. The bartender handed my drink, and I took it and walked over to a secluded table not far from the two and tried again to listen.

"...burn down your sister's bar?" the man said.

"No! I'll give it to you! Just give me one more week!" the girl said,

"I've already given you two weeks, pay up. Or your sister pays the price."

"Please! Just one more week is all I ask!"

By then, my fists were clenched under the table. I _hated _people like him. The ones that stole from the poor and bullied them. I stood up from my chair and walked over to them. I slammed my hands on the table, and glared at the man.

"I don't care who you are, but you better stop pestering this woman," I growled. The man stared at me in disgust.

" And who, do you think _you_ are?" he asked.

"Someone you should not mess with."

"And if I don't leave her alone?"

"Then I _make_ you."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_Mikan's POV_

When we arrived, the first thing we saw was the huge crowd gathered in a circle outside the pub, Midnight Experiment. They seemed to be cheering. I sent a quizzical look at my friends who in turn shrugged their shoulders.

"Let's go check it out," I said. They nodded and we strolled over to the mob and tried to see what was going on.

"Yeah! Punch him in the face!"

"Kick him where it hurts!"

The six of us exchanged glances. This couldn't be good. I signaled for Kitsu to use his alice to see what was all the fuss from above. He nodded and floated above the crowd without anyone noticing. After a few moments, he came back down and landed in front of us.

"There's a fight between some man and a teenage boy," Kitsu reported.

"Apparently, the man was threatening some girl and the boy interfered, and now they're fighting," Koko explained with the information he got from his alice.

"Who are they?"

"I don't know. No one is thinking about their names, and the two are too focused on fighting," Koko said.

"Tsubasa, paralyze them and move them so I can get the two," I commanded. Tsubasa nodded and did as I asked without question. I _was_ the gang leader after all.

Tsubasa activated his Shadow Manipulaton Alice and everyone suddenly stopped moving. They parted leaving a gap big enough for me to walk through.

"What the hell?"

"What's happening?"

"Alices! It has to be!"

I walked through the gap and stopped a foot away from the two men. The boy was in mid-punch, and the man had his arms up in defense.

"Who the hell are you?" the boy growled. He had raven black hair, and striking crimson eyes. I felt a slight tingling on the back of my left hand where my tattoo was.

"What happened here?" I asked, ignoring his question.

"Why should I tell you, Polka-Dots?"

"Polka-Dots? What...WHAT THE?! YOU PERVERT" I yelled. I was wearing _polka-dotted patterned panties._

"Well, it's not my fault you didn't tell me your name."

"WELL IT'S MIKAN SAKURA YOU BAKA!"

"Mikan... Sakura, huh?" the man said. I whipped my head around to look at the orange haired man who had spoken.

"So what if it is?" I demanded. He smirked, reminding me of a lion that just laid eyes on an easy prey.

"Release me," He demanded.

"Why should I?" I said.

"Oh, I wasn't talking to you," he said. Then he smiled, and jumped with inhuman strength and landed on the roof of the pub. "I was talking to the Shadow Manipulator. We will meet again, Sakura."

With that, he disappeared, leaving me dumbfounded.

"What the hell? Tsubasa! Why did you let him go?"

"He had the Voice Pheromone Alice," Koko said. "None of us could do anything."

"Huh? Then why wasn't I affected?" I asked.

"I don't know... But his thoughts... were weird. Something about some lady named... Yuka."

"Who's she?"

"I don't know," Koko said. I sighed.

"Tsubasa, please release them," I said. Everyone unfroze and ran away from fright. Well, everyone except the rude pervert and a girl with pink hair and blue eyes. Wait... pink hair? Blue Eyes?

"Anna?" I said. The girl looked at me in shock. Her blue eyes widened.

"Mikan-chan?" she said. "Oh my god! It really is you!"

She tackled me in a hug and laughed. This girl was Anna Umenomiya. One of my best friends that wasn't in the Sakura Petal. Anna was a baker with the Cooking Alice, and didn't know about the Underground. She and her twin sister, Nonoko, were my childhood friends.

"Um, hello? Confused so-called pervert here?" someone said. One of my veins popped in irritation.

"Um, HELLO? Long lost friend reunion time here?" I said.

"Um, HELLO? Polka-Dotted Panties girl here?" he smirked. Koko snickered.

"Um, HE- YOU STINKIN' PERVERT!"

"Mikan-chan, please don't hurt him! He's the one that saved me!" Anna said.

"This pervert saved you?" I asked her. She nodded.

"She just agreed that I was a pervert. Should I be offended?" he muttered.

"At least he's useful for something," I said.

"What was that, Polka?" he hissed.

"PERVERT."

"Ugly."

"Jerk!"

"Idiot."

"Loud-mouthed girl."

"Moron!"

_BAKA! BAKA! BAKA! _

"OW! HOTARU!" I whined.

"Shut up, baka."

"Hey, guys? He's gone," Kitsuneme said.

"Huh?" I said. Sure enough where the stupid pervert was standing was now nothing but air. The tingling on my hand slowly began to disappear."What?! Impossible! How did he do that?!"

"I guess even someone can surpass the skills of Mikan."

"HMPH! Whatever. What a way to ruin a day," I said, still thinking about the tingling on my tattoo when I stepped close to him.

"Let's get some Howalons Mikan-chan!" Misaki said.

"YEAH! HOWALONS! HERE I COME~~~!"

_Natsume's POV_

That idiot. Now I have to go back to the dumb castle. Whatever. But still... why does she seem familiar? Kind of like that girl from the woods. And that slight tingling on my Mark... What does this mean? _**(A.N: OHMIGOD DOUBLE RAINBOW! No, jk! XD just had to do that.)**_

_Unknown POV_

Somewhere, not far, a man stood in front of a desk in a dark room.

"Are you sure it's her?" a masculine voice asked. The owner of the voice sat in a throne-like chair behind the desk. The darkness of the room hid his face.

"Yes. It has to be. She an exact copy of That Person."

"Bring her to me. Bring me the daughter of Yuka Yukihira."

**Chapter End.**

**Mystery: YAY! Two chappies in one day! I'm EXHAUSTED. Check out my other story if you can plz! Oh yeah and: I changed the description of the tattoo in the other chapters AND changed the cover. I think it looks better now. I dunno. Oh well, see you next chapter!**


	4. The Masquerade

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN GAKUEN ALICE **

**Chapter 4**

_Recap: _

_"Yes. It has to be. She an exact copy of That Person."_

_"Bring her to me. Bring me the daughter of Yuka Yukihira."_

_-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

_Mikan's POV_

After wolfing down about fifty thousand boxes of those dear, _sweet, delicious, heavenly_ Howalons, we headed to the small park filled with sakura trees in the middle of town.

"Sweet serenity..." Tsubasa sighed. Misaki rolled her eyes.

"Baka."

"Ne, Hotaru-chan! What should we do now?!" I shouted. Which, of course, led to me being shot by the infamous Baka Gun. AGAIN. "ITAI! (Ouch!)"

"Baka. You don't have to scream. I'm right next to you."

"Why did you only ask Hotaru?" Koko muttered.

"ATTENTION! ATTENTION! PLEASE GATHER AROUND!"

"Huh? What's going on over there?" I asked.

"Let's check it out."

We joined the crowd that had gathered around a woman holding a basket filled with fancy envelopes.

"There will be a feast today celebrating the birthday of the prince! It will be a masquerade ball, and everyone is invited! Please pick up your invitations here! It is required to enter the castle."

"A party? We should check it out."

"And get some money," Hotaru smirked. The rest of the gang sweat dropped.

"We'll take some of those invitations!"

_Natsume's POV_

By the time I got back to the castle, the sun had already set. I crept past the guards, and climbed up the bricks that I had discreetly pulled out to make make-shift ladder years ago. I climbed through my window, landing silently on the ground.

"Seriously, Natsume? You make me worry too much..."

I snapped my head towards the direction of the voice and saw my best friend, Ruka Nogi, leaning on the wall next to me, petting his pet rabbit.

"Ruka. What are you doing here?"

"Geez Natsume... You told me to come before the party so that you wouldn't have to be bored to death alone in the midst of all the princesses," Ruka sighed.

"Party...?"

"NATSUME HYUUGA!"

We both froze as we heard the booming voice of my enraged mother.

_BOOM_!

The door was kicked open by the devil herself- sorry, I meant, _Mother_ herself. A dark aura surrounded her as she stomped over. I felt my hair stand up like a frightened cat's.

My mother is one of the scariest people I know. Actually, she's the _only_ person I know that can actually scare the living daylights out of me. But if I just ignore the fact that she's a demon, I know that she is really a good person. Just a _really scary_ person.

"Q-Queen Kaoru!" Ruka stammered. "I just remembered! I have to... do something at home!"

He headed for the door, but she just grabbed the collar of his shirt swiftly without once taking her scowl off me. Ruka yelped.

"No, you stay here Ruka. And Natsume... WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?!" the woman I call "Mother" screeched.

"Out," I said stoically. Big mistake. Her face turned red in anger, and steam literally came out of her ears. Geez, I thought that only happened in my manga books!

"What. Did. You. Just. SAY?!"

"Out. Like out of the castle? You aren't deaf or something are you, old woman?"

"Natsume. Hyuuga," she growled.

"Kaoru-koi!" someone called (probably my dad, he's the only one with the guts to do that, although even he is terrified of her when she's in a bad mood).

"...When I come back, you better be ready for the party. _Both of you twerps_."

"Y-Yes, Ma'am!"

"Tch."

-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

_Mikan's POV_

The sun was just starting to set when I heard a knock on my door.

"Mikan-chan! Are you ready? It's almost time for the party!" someone yelled from the other side of the door. I opened the door to see Misaki and Hotaru already in their dresses and mask in hand. They were wearing dresses that matched their eye color.

Misaki was wearing a hot-pink off-shoulder dress that stopped right before her knees. Her hair was curled and was tied up to the side. In her hand was a pink mask decorated with midnight blue colored feathers.

Hotaru's outfit was much different. She wore a sparkling dark purple cocktail dress with a train at the back that glided over the ground, nearly touching it. Her hair was in its usual hairstyle though, to my disappointment. Her mask was a simple white masquerade mask that covered half of her face. The edges had a gold and turquoise striped lining.

"No! I can't find my mask!"

"Baka."

I was wearing a crimson dress with a slit to the side that went daringly high, showing most of my bare legs. Black high heels graced my feet. I let my hair down and it was flowing freely, and it looked like a waterfall made of bronze water. I had exchanged my white wrapping covering my Mark with a black silk cloth with random gold streaks on it.

"AHA! FOUND YOU!" I yelled in triumph. I held up my mask for them to see. It was a white mask that covered the upper part of my face, up to my lips. A dozen pink sakura petals were painted to the side, adding the effect of pink fire.

"Great! Now, let's go!" Misaki squealed. Hotaru rolled her eyes at our antics and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Don't even know why I'm still friends with these idiots."

I linked my arms with the both of them and sprinted away, the two of them in tow.

_Natusme's POV_

"Natsume!" my mother yelled, kicking down the door. She inspected us, and seemingly satisfied, nodded her head and turned to leave. "The party will officially start in thirty minutes. You better be at the door in fifteen."

The moment the door clicked close, Ruka slumped down on the chair behind him. We were both in similar black tuxedos. The only difference was the color of our masks. Mine was crimson with a golden flame design at the side. Ruka had a azure mask with silver lining.

"Your mom is freaking scary."

I stared at Ruka stoically.

"And you just figured that out now?"

"No, just thought I'd point it out."

"Weirdo," I said, but the entire time, my mind was elsewhere. Well, on that familiar brunette girl to be specific. I couldn't shake the feeling that I've seen her somewhere before. And that weird pull I felt coming from my Mark? What the hell was that?!

So basically, my brain is a jumbled mess right now. To make it worse, my birthday party is in thirty minutes. No doubt there will be a bunch of those clingy princesses.

"Nat-su-me!"

"Aoi..." I sighed. Can this day get any worse? My little sister burst into my room and jumped on my bed.

"Natsume! Momma told me to tell you that she told me to tell you... uh... Ok... START OVER. MOMMA TOLD ME TO TELL YOU THAT-"

"AOI. GET TO THE POINT, CHIBI."

"Right, she said that, and these are her words not mine, so don't kill me for saying this: 'Natsume Hyuuga your buttocks better be here in thirty seconds or else you won't live to see the sun again,'" Aoi said _with a smile on her face._ "Oh yeah and Daddy said something about how you should really get your 'lovely butt' over to them before Mother kill you."

"Whatever."

I headed outside my room and soon arrived at the grand doors that led to the dining room where my birthday party was being held. My mother and father were already there.

"Natsume~!" my dad squealed.

"NATSUME, YOU'RE LATE."

"Whatever, grandma. Just get this over with."

"WHY YOU LITTLE-"

"And SO! THE HYUUGA ROYAL FAMILY HAS ARRIVED."

The doors swung open and everybody suddenly went silent.

"WELCOME to the 17th birthday party of the Hyuuga Prince, Natsume!" my father bellowed. The crowd cheered, well mostly the female population, but yeah you get the idea...

"LET THE PARTY BEGIN!"

_Mikan's POV_

"BAKA. Now we're late to the stinkin' prince's party," Hotaru scolded.

"Oh, RELAX Hotaru I doubt anyone's going to notice that we're late. They'll be too busy trying to impress the royals," Misaki reasoned. We rounded one more corner before finally arriving at the golden castle of the Hyuuga Royals. Two guards stood on either side of the entrance. They crossed their lances when we came close to the gates.

"Invitations," one guard demanded.

"Here they are," Hotaru said, flashing our three cards in one hand, forming the shape of a fan _**(like how a person would hold their playing cards in Uno or something ^.^). **_The other guard walked up to us and started to search us, but before he could lay a finger on us Hotaru intercepted.

"Excuse me if I'm wrong, but I do not believe it is proper to search a lady in such a way," she said. 'Lady'?! AS IF. But I understood that Hotaru was just trying to cause as little of a hassle as possible in the weapon search because... Well, being part of an elite gang, we pretty much _always_ have weapons. Now _that_ would not be nice to explain.

"U-Uh... I'm sorry, but this is the policy," the guard stuttered. Hotaru sent him her infamous if-you-don't-agree-with-me-I'll-use-your-darkest-secrets-as-blackmail death glare. The unfortunate men squirmed under her scowl.

"Is it really?"

"N-no! Please proceed! We're sorry for being an inconvenience!" they yelled in unison and withdrew their weapons to let us pass. Hotaru smirked as the guards opened the castle doors, blinding us with the light from inside.

"Amazing..." I murmured. The dining room had gold walls either painted or real gold, it could be either. Crystal chandeliers of all shapes hung from the ceiling along with paintings of fire. The mood was happy because everyone was dancing and laughing.

"Mikan-chan! Hotaru! Misaki!"

We turned to see the boys running at us at full speed. They were all wearing tuxedos-which was a huge shock to us all. Although it would have been even more amazing if they actually knew how to tie a tie. All of their ties looked like a jumbled mess. I couldn't even find the ends of the tie!

They nearly tackled us to the ground, but stopped last minute at the sight of Hotaru's Baka _CANON_. Which was way worse than the Baka Gun. They resorted to hugging us.

"You guys are late!" Koko whined.

"Blame the baka."

"Hotaru's being mean again," Kitsu smirked.

"WELL ANYWAY, we need a partner!" Tsubasa announced. We all looked at him weirdly. "What? We need to DANCE!"

With that, he grabbed Misaki's wrist and pulled her onto the dance floor with him.

"H-Hey! What are you doing idiot?!" Misaki shouted. Tsubasa just grinned and twirled her around.

"Well... I guess we better find someone to dance with!" Kitsu said. We nodded in reluctant agreement, but none the less split up to find a dance partner.

_Natusme's POV_

The party was everything I expected it to be. Clingy princesses with too much make up on were all over me (not literally), fat dukes and nobles were all hogging the food, my mother was sending me death glares, and Ruka was getting more and more uncomfortable by every second under her glare. To sum it up, it was utterly boring and pointless. Or so I'd like to think.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Natsume-kun! Would you like to dance with me?" some princess squealed in a _really_ high-pitched voice.

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"Go away."

"Why not?"

"Sumire. Go dance with someone else."

"But-"

"If he doesn't want to dance with you, then he doesn't have to," a feminine voice said. We turned to see who had spoken and saw a brunette girl probably about our age standing next to us with a hand on her hip. She was wearing a white mask decorated with painted cherry blossom petals. Her dress was crimson, and her left hand was wrapped with a black and gold scarf.

"Who are you?" Sumire said with a snobbish tone.

"That's for me to know and you to find out, Permy."

"PERMY?!" she screeched. She huffed in anger and spun around, stomping away.

"Thanks... strawberry fields."

"No probl-YOU PERVERT!" she screeched. "THAT'S TWO IN ONE DAY! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS WORLD?!"

"Oi, baka! Quit being so loud."

"WELL SOR-RY! It's not my fault that you're the same as that perverted... Wait a minute... Black hair? Weird crimson eyes?! PERVERTED ATTITUDE?! UNDERWEAR OBSESSION?! DON'T TELL ME... YOU'RE THE PERVERT FROM THIS MORNING?!"

"Pervert? Oh, you're that polka-dotted panties girl," I said emotionlessly.

"WHY YOU PERVERT! AT LEAST HAVE THE DECENCY TO REMEMBER MY NAME! PEOPLE THESE D-"

"Dance with me?" I asked. Don't ask me why I did that, 'cause I honestly have no clue. But something made me say it. Maybe it was because my Mark of Fate just started itching again like this morning? Or perhaps it's because she seems familiar.

"Why would I dance with a pervert?! And stop interrupting me! I refuse to dance with-" Mikan suddenly stopped talking and glanced for a fraction of a second to our right. "Sure, I'll dance with you."

"Bipolar. The name's... Nat..su," I said. I couldn't exactly give her my real name, she might just freak. I mean, the point of a masquerade party is to hide ones identity right? Although I still don't know how Sumire found out what mask I was wearing. I mean, lots of people were wearing masks like mine.

"Why are you talking so slow?"

"Just because."

"Oh, just dance with me!"

_Mikan's POV_

He took my hand and guided me to the dance floor. It was a slow dance. He twirled me around, and did all the dance moves perfectly. I probably would've been more impressed if I wasn't distracted. The entire time we danced, my mind was on the man hidden behind the crowd.

-O-

_"Dance with me?_" _he said randomly._

_"Why would I dance with a pervert?! And stop interrupting me! I refuse to dance with-" I froze and went silent. It wasn't my imagination was it? No. It wasn't He's definitely there. I glanced over to the corner of the room. A tall man stood there. his golden mask was molded into the shape of a smirking man. It had horns, making it look like a demon. It completely covered his face. _

Pretend you didn't see him Mikan. You'll draw his attention._ I thought to myself._

_"Sure, I'll dance with you."_

_"Bipolar."_

-O-

I glanced over to the corner of the room again. The man was gone.

_Not good... KOKO! Where are you?! _I thought, hoping that the mind reader would hear me. _KOKO!_

No answer.

Thirty seconds passed. Still no answer.

_Mikan!_

_Koko?! What happened?! Where are you guys?_

_Run. _He_ is here. _

_He? Wait... you don't mean...?_

I gasped in shock, and turned to look directly at Natsu. I would have to make up an excuse and leave to find my gang.

"I'm sorry, but I have to-" I froze and stared, my eyes wide as saucers.

_He_ was right behind Natsu, his mask smiling evilly at me.

**Chapter End.**

_**Mystery: Muahahaha. I know, I know. I'm a horrible author for not updating for weeks. ^.^ Ahaha.. sorry about that. But on the bright side, this is a really long chapter! :)**_

_**Natsume: Idiot...**_

_**Mystery: Why do I always make you guys call me an idiot?**_

_**Hotaru: Because you are one.**_

_**Mystery: TT^TT REVIEW, FAVORITE, AND FOLLOW! XD OR MEET HOTARU'S BAKA CANNON**_

_**MUAHAHAHAHAHA!**_


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